


The Gold Motel: Awake

by mrgoldsdearie



Series: The Gold Motel [6]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Once Upon a Time Fusion, F/M, Horror, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-13
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2018-03-30 10:23:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3933226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrgoldsdearie/pseuds/mrgoldsdearie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rumbelle AU inspired by the move Psycho - Norman Gold learns about Neal Cassidy’s  existence and has a mental break. Belle learns that Robert Gold really does care about Norman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Gold Motel: Awake

**Author's Note:**

> I’m thrilled with the way this chapter turned out and the direction this story is headed. I hope you enjoy as well. Happy reading.

Norman Gold slowly opens his eyes, finding himself alone on the couch of his living room. He's been knocked out for nearly twenty minutes and now awakes with one of the worst headaches he's had in a truly long time. He sits up, holding the back of his head and gazes around the room with blurry vision. "Belle?" he calls for his wife, but she doesn't answer. He quickly stands to his feet to find her, but he feels lightheaded and falls back into the couch. "Belle?" Now he's starting to get worried about her. "D-d-dearie?" He think he's the only person in the house.

Belle suddenly bursts through the kitchen door, with her eyes and cheeks red from crying. "Sweetie." She rushes to the couch. "I'm right here." She presses a cold towel on his split lip.

He flinches to the pain.

"I'm so sorry, honey." She adds more pressure to his lip, trying to keep it from swelling. She's upset with herself for doing this to him, Robert was the one that deserved it and now Norman has to feel the aftermath.

"What's g-g-going on, Belle?"

"Sweetie." She nervously runs her hand through her hair and scratches the back of her neck. "You're going to need some ice for that lip." She avoids his question.

"I d-d-don't want any ice. I w-w-want you to answer me."

"I'll be right back, sweetie, then I'll answer your question." She twists the wet towel around her hand. "Please, please don't try to get up. I know your head hurts." She dashes back into the kitchen, without giving him time to reply.

"Miss French?" Neal Cassidy stands from the kitchen table. "I really don't wanna hide in here."

"Please, just for a little longer and I'm Belle Gold, by the way." She shuffles to the refrigerator and opens the freezer.

"Yes, I'm sorry about that. I guess it slipped my mind from everything else you've told me. I'm still not sure if I believe it or not." He's in shock over the entire situation. Someone living with two personalities is something he's only seen in movies.

"What I've told you about the man out there is the truth. I have no reason to lie about it." She fills the towel with ice and slams the door shut. "Will you please just stay here? I need to talk to him..." She takes a deep ruffled breath. "...Before we get to you. I know you still want to meet him."

"I've met him already, Mrs. Gold."

"The man you met earlier was Robert and the one that's out there confused is Norman. I know this is hard for you to understand. You were expecting to meet someone more... Umm, normal... And I get that, but Norman isn't like everyone else. If you want to met him, you're going to have to try to understand that," Belle passionately explains and wipes tears from her face.

Neal feels for Belle. He can see the heavy weight holding her down. He's never seen anyone so devastated in his life.

"Will you please just stay here?" she adds.

"Yes, ma'am." He nods and takes his set back at the table.

"Thank you so much." She hurries back to her husband.

Belle steps into the living room and finds Norman right where she left him. She sits next to him and gently places the ice towel on his lip.

"You h-h-have the ice now, s-s-so tell me what happened to me." He can see it written all over her face that something horrible has happened and it's been years since he's woken up with cuts or brushes that he doesn't remember. He knows there's more to this than just a blackout.

Belle fixes her eyes on him, holding in the truth. He didn't awake afraid or frazzled and she knows that he knows there’s more to this situation. She doesn't feel like she can tell him, afraid of what he would think, but she needs to tell him. Belle lowers the towel from his lip and opens her mouth to speak, but the words don't escape.

"Tell me!" he yells at her, frustrated with all the stalling.

"Don't talk to me like that." She tosses the towel of ice in his lap.

"Then stop keeping things from me. I'm upset and I'm scared. The last thing I remember is falling asleep next to you. Now, I've woken up here, wearing this suit and feeling like I've been hit in the fucking face." His stutter completely vanishes. "I get that you have your secret, Belle, and it's yours to keep until you're ready to tell me. But you can't keep things from me that are happening to me!"

Belle stares into his eyes, breathing heavily with her heart thumping faster than she's ever felt it. She can't tell him. "Norman..." she mutters and suddenly jumps up from the couch, rushing to the staircase. She can't handle this, it's all too much for her.

"Don't you run away from me." He chases after her and stops her at the stairs, snatching her arm and turns her to face him.

"Ahhh!" She squeals as he grabs her so suddenly.

"Tell me, Belle," he hollers, gripping her arm a little tighter.  

Neal rushes out of the kitchen. He heard Belle's cry and the argument between them. He thinks Norman is trying to hurt her. "Leave her alone," he demands.

Norman turns to see who the other person in the house is and his eyes widen as if he's seeing a ghost. He let's go of Belle and stumbles back against the wall. "P-p-papa?" His body shivers with fear.

"Are you alright, Mrs. Gold?" Neal makes sure she isn't hurt.

"Yes I'm fine." She rubs her arm. "Norman would never hurt me." Belle turns to her husband and he's cowering against the wall like a fearful child. "Norman?" She reaches out for him and he backs away.

"I'm, I'm s-s-sorry, P-p-papa,” Norman cries.

"What's wrong with him? Why is he looking at me like that?"

"I-I don't know," she answers Neal and reaches for Norman again.

Norman backs away into the corner behind the front door. "P-p-please, Papa," he whimpers with tears streaming down his face, then suddenly darts out of the corner, pushes Neal to the side and runs down to the cellar underneath the stairs, locking himself inside.

"What the hell was that?" Neal shrieks.

"I don't know. He's never done that before." She follows after Norman and knocks on the door to the cellar. "Norman?" she calls, yanking on the doorknob.

"P-p-please, Papa, no m-m-more. D-d-don't h-h-hurt me," he answers through the door in a heart wrenching stutter Belle has never heard before.

Belle is horrified, as she brings her hand to her lips and looks up to Neal. He watches the scene from over the banister.

"Is he going to be alright?" Neal is very concerned about his father and Belle. "What the hell just happened?"

"I-I-I don't know." Belle cries into her hands, then quickly pulls and knocks on the locked door again. "Norman, please open up," she begs.

"L-l-leave... m-m-me... a-a-alone." His fearful stutter is more aggressive.

She slowly backs away and walks up to the first floor, feeling so lost and helpless.

Neal takes her hand and leads her to the couch.

"He took one look at you and, and, and freaked out," she sobs and puts her face in her hands. "I'm so scared... I'm so scared... I don't know how to help him. This is all my fault."

"I'm sure it's not your fault Mrs. Gold." Neal scoots closer to her.

"It is... You... You just don't understand."

"I might not understand, but I know, I know it's not your fault."

Belle looks up to him and his face is comforting to see.

"Mrs. Gold, he called me papa. Any idea why?" Neal takes her shivering hand and squeezes it lightly. His hands tremble as well, but he knows she needs the comfort more than himself.

She takes a moment to think. There's no way Norman meant Robert, he knows Robert looks like himself. The only explanation that makes sense to her, is if Norman thinks Neal looks like his real father, but she has never seen pictures of him. It appears the bloodline seems to run thick in the Gold family. "I think you resemble his father," Belle states her conclusion.

"But, but he was afraid of me."

"Yes, he was." She sniffs and dries her eyes. "The childhood trauma I told you about, his father was the one who caused it."

"Really?"

"Yes, but that's really all that I know. I don't know what kind of things he did to Norman, he never talks about them. I only tell you these things because he is your father, your family and Norman would want you to know."

"I understand, Mrs. Gold."

"If you want to leave and get away from all of this, now is the time."

Neal came all this way to meet his father and he doesn't want to run away from Norman just because he isn't want he expected. "If you don't mind, I want to stay. I want to try to help. I came hoping that I could be in his life and that's what I still want to do."

Belle hugs him. She isn't quite sure why, but it's nice to feel his arms wrapped around her. "I'm, I'm g-g-going to check on Baelee, then call Norman's therapist." She pulls out of the hug, taking staggered breaths and clears more tears from her face. "We're going to need his help."

"Okay, Mrs. Gold."

"You can call me Belle." She stands from the couch.

"Belle." He nods and plays with his fidgety hands, trying to stop them from shaking. "What are we going to do about him being in the basement?"

"I think it might be best to leave him down there. He locked the door and he just wants to be left alone. He doesn't harm himself when he's alone. He just... He just thinks."

"Alright."

Belle turns away and heads upstairs to look in on their daughter.

##  *******

Down in the corner of the dark, dank cellar, Norman Gold sits on the floor, cradling his legs. He use to sit in this position when he was a boy and wait for his real father, Malcolm Gold, to stop beating on the door. Norman buries his head in his legs, breathing heavily and hoping that Malcolm doesn't come through the door.

"Laddie?" Norman speaks softly in Robert's voice. Robert can't stand to see Norman like this, he never could.

Norman lifts his head. "What are you d-d-doing here?"

"I came to check on you, son. You're not looking too good."

"How long have you b-b-been here?" Norman demands to know. To his knowledge, Robert hasn't surfaced in a while.

"I just got here," Robert lies, he's been around for two days. "I saw that man's face the moment you did and I saw what seeing him did to you. I needed to make sure you were okay."

"Why the h-h-hell do you care?"

"I care a lot. I used to help you when you came down here to hide, remember?" Robert would be the one to calm Norman down after his father would try to hurt him.

"Yes." Norman wipes his nose on the sleeve of his suit. "He's b-b-back, Papa."

"I know you think it's him, but it's not. Malcolm is gone. He can't hurt you anymore, son."

"Yes he c-c-can. He's upstairs w-w-waiting for me."

"Norman, I promise you, it is not him."

"It's n-n-not?"

"No."

"H-h-how do you know that?"

"Because I know. Malcolm has been gone for a long time, he's most likely dead. He can't come back to hurt you."

"If it's not him, then who is it?

Robert isn't quite sure how to answer this question and telling Norman the truth, would not be good for his chances at freedom. "I don't know who he is, laddie."

"You're lying," Norman snarls and picks himself up from the floor.

"I wouldn't never lie to you about something like this."

"I think you would." Norman's voice slowly rises and his stutter escapes him once again. "The man up there looks just like... like him. And you're just so sure that it's not. Who the hell is that man, Papa?" Norman yells furiously at himself.

"What makes you think I'm lying?"

Norman's faces curls up with anger. "You might not have ever lied to me before, but I know you've kept things from me and you like to manipulate the truth. Like when you told me you were just going to talk to Belle the day the baby was born. Yes, you did talk to her, but you also fucked her and you planned on doing it the entire time!"

Roberts face softens. He feels guilty about doing that to Norman, but not completely. "Norman, I apologized to you for that."

"But you didn't fucking mean it," Norman snaps. He's sick of everyone tiptoeing around him and keeping him in the dark. "You like to forget that we share the same body, but I don't. I can feel something different about you. You're very nervous and you're stalling just like Belle did. She knows something about that man too. She let him in the fucking house!"

"I understand why you're upset, but the man isn't Malcolm."

Norman's anger deflate and he speaks softer, as his stutter returns.  "B-b-but he looks like him and it s-s-scares me. Why d-d-does he look like that, Papa?"

"I don't know," Robert lies again. He's hoping that Norman will drop this soon.

"Tell me the fucking truth!" Norman rages.

"Don't talk to me like that, Norman. I'm your father."

"No you're not! I can talk to you how ever I want. I'm sick of you treating me like a child."

"It's because you act like one."

"Quit stalling and fucking tell me." He knocks over a stack of old chairs. "You know, I'm not sure how, but you do."

"Fine." Robert gives in. Since Norman is demanding to know and Belle isn't going to tell him, then he’s going to do it. If Norman thinks he can handle this, Robert is going to let him. "The man up there." He point to the ceiling of the cellar. "The man that looks like Malcolm, that’s our son."

Norman's heart skips a beat and he freezes, then he closes his eyes, taking in a deep breath. "What!" he howls, as his eye pop open.

"You heard me laddie, he's our son. That's why he looks like Malcolm."

Norman paces the floor of the cellar, tugging at his hair.

"Don't do this, son." Robert stops Norman's pacing.

"Sh-sh-shut up, Papa!” Norman continues walking back and forth, confused as to how this could happen. “You’re not lying. How, how are you not lying?” Norman’s body trembles with fear and anger. “How is he my son? He’s a man and I've only had sex with, with Belle.”

“Don’t be fucking stupid Norman, not right now!” Robert bellows. “You know exactly how he's our son. It was me and you know it! You don’t want me to treat you like a child, well I’m not and I’ve told you the damn truth.”

Norman stands in the middle of the floor, staring at the gray stone wall of the cellar, taking in the life changing news Robert just told him and thinking about how hesitant his wife was around him. He knows she was keeping the truth from him as well. The room is dead silent and the only sound is Norman's rapid breathing. After several minutes of complete nothingness, he darts for the door, frantically unlocks it and flies up the stairs. He enters the living room and finds Neal sitting on the couch next to Belle.

Belle instantly stands at the site of Norman and the glazed over look on her husband's face scares to death.

Norman gawks at Neal, mystified, then turns away and slowly lurches to the front door.

“Norman?” Belle follows after him and he quickly faces her.

“Belle.”

She breathes a sigh of relief. “Norman.” She smiles.

“No. It’s me.”

The smile falls from her face. “Rob..”

He places his index finger over her lips, stopping her from saying his name. Norman still doesn't know that he has one. “Norman is still here, but I'm holding him back for now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just listen to me,” he growls “Norman is very, very pissed off at you and me. I’ve only seen him this upset once before. He's going to leave and I’m going to make sure he's alright, I’ll take care of him while he's gone.”

“What? Where is he going?”

“When he started running away from Malcolm, he use to go out into the wood to relieve his anger, that's where he's going now."

"Malcolm?" She has never heard Norman's father's real name.

"Don’t follow him and don’t call the doctor. It will only make things worse," Robert continues to explain.

“Worse?”

“Yes!” he barks. “Do what I tell you, Belle.”

“Okay.” Belle weeps, but no tears fall from her face. She has cried so much, that her eyes are tear-less.

“He’ll be fine, I promise, sweetheart.”

She gazes into his eyes, as they glazes over into that blank stare Norman had just seconds ago. He turns away from her and leaves the house, scuffing his feet on the ground like a zombie.

Neal meets Belle at the door and they watch Norman grab an ax that was leaning on the back end of the motel and enter the woods. "Are you just going to listen to what he says? That was the other personality, right? The one you punched in the face?"

“Yes, it was the other one and I don’t know if I should listen to him or not.” Belle still doesn’t trust Robert, but thinks it might be best to do as he says. “He said he knows how to handle Norman like this. He’s seen him this way before and I think he helped him through it.” Well, that’s what she’s hoping. 

“So you’re going to do what he says?” 

Belle nods, she really has no other choice. “Norman is angry with me, I betrayed his trust. He trusted me to take care of him when he blacks out and I’ve failed.” She slams the door shut and falls back against it.

Neal can't stand to see her hurting so much. “Belle, you do a lot for Norman, don’t you?”

“Yes, he’s my life. I would do anything for him.” 

“I’m starting to see that and it’s a beautiful thing to see how much you love him. But Belle, when was the last time you did something for yourself?” Neal can tell it’s been forever since Belle has thought about herself first. “I think you should use this time while he’s gone and take care of you, make sure you’re okay, for once.”

Belle returns to the living room and picks up Baelee from her playpen. "Although that does sound nice, I'm a mother and I need to take care of her."

"Well I wasn't suggesting to pack everything and go on a vacation." He stands next to her. "I was thinking more along the lines of a warm bath."

"I don't think I should. Baelee is awake and I can't leave her alone. Also, I need to call the doctor and tell him not to come."

"Belle, this might feel like I'm pushing this on you, well, it's because I am. I've never seen anyone so close to the edge as you," Neal speaks with great concern. "You look like someone that's about to jump. I don't know what you're holding in and I don't expect you to ever tell me, but I don't want to see you jump." Neal thinks of Belle as part of his family now and he wants to do all that he can to make sure she doesn't break. "I'd really like it if you did go and take five minute to yourself, five minutes can be just enough time to clear your head."

Belle smiles at Neal and kisses the baby's cheek. She's been so stressed from the guilt of killing Cora, dealing with keeping her lies straight with Norman and just having Robert around, that she never takes any moments just for her.

She doesn't think she deserves them.

Neal seems like a sweet man and he's starting to remind her of Norman, but she can't leave the baby with him, not even for five minutes. "How about I promise to take five minutes for myself, just not right now."

"Aright, Belle, just as long as you do it. It doesn't matter when."

"Thank you, Neal." She holds Baelee close to her heart.

"You're welcome. We're family now and I only want to help." He extends his arm to shake her hand.

"We are." She reaches for his hand and shakes it and they share a smile together.

"Call me a bit slow, but I just realized something," Neal comments.

"What's that?"

"Well, you're holding my baby sister."

Belle grins and a light chuckle escapes her lips. It's the first time she's laughed all day. "You're right." She lightly bops the baby's nose. "Bae, this is your brother Neal."

Neal takes Baelee's little hand and kisses it, as she smiles at her big brother. "It's very nice to finally meet, Bae."

##  *******

Out in the woods, in the heart of the Gold family's property, Norman Gold aggressively hacks at a tree with his dull ax. He chops and chops, hitting the trunk harder with each swing he takes. "You. Lied. To. Me." His ax connects with the tree with every word he speaks. Sweat drips down his brow and his hair sticks to his face, as he lets out all of his fury on the young white cedar. "You were here before, weren't you?" Norman hults his swings.

Robert doesn't answer. He remains quiet in the subconscious of Norman's mind. 

"How long have you been here and how long have you been lying to me, Papa!"

Robert still remains silent. He knows Norman needs this release. Norman needs to scream, cry and destroy something before he can begin to accept this situation.

"You p-p-promised you would never do that to me. You promised never to lie like Malcolm." He chops at the tree and tosses the dull ax. He pushes on the trunk and the tree crashes to the forest floor. Norman collapses to his knees next to the tree and sobs into his hands. "She wasn't g-g-going to tell me. She knew you were h-h-here, she knew everything, and she wasn't g-g-going to tell."

"You don't know that, laddie." Robert lifts his head, finally breaking his silence.

"Sh-sh-she stood up from the couch and started to run away from me."

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe she was scared too?"

"What would she b-b-be afraid of?"

"Maybe of the way you would react. You're not quite handling it well and this is exactly what she was fearful of."

"How d-d-do you know that?"

"I did lie, laddie. I was here earlier and Belle was trying to protect you from me," Robert confesses. "She hit me when we found out about Neal and that's how you got the cut on your lip. She was afraid of how you would take the news. She didn't tell me directly, but I knew what she meant."

"Sh-sh-she hit you?"

"Yes, son. It was twice actually."

"Good! I'm g-g-glad she hit you." Norman wanted to hit Robert many times, but knew he really couldn't do it. He's relieved to find out that his wife did it for him. "How did you find out about... N-n-neal?"

"I think that's something for you and your wife to discuss." Robert doesn't want to say. He knows this is something Norman will talk to Belle about later and he doesn't want his story to be different from hers. Whatever Belle tells him, won't be the complete truth.

"B-b-but I asked you."

"And I said talk to your wife about it," Robert speaks harshly.

Norman doesn't say a word. He lowers his head and picks at the dry grass on the forest floor.

"I think it's time for you to stop this foolishness and go home to talk to your wife. You need to take care of your daughter and meet your new son."

"D-d-do you think I'm ready?" Norman mutters softly.

"No, I don't, but you have to do it." Robert stands to his feet. "Go home, Norman," he demands.

"Yes, Papa." Norman marches back to the house.

##  *******

The sun begins to set behind the victorian style manor on the hill, as Norman returns to the house. He has forgotten how much Robert use to help him in the past and is surprisingly relieved that he was here for him today, even if it was his fault that these events happened.

Norman enters the house and finds Belle, Neal and Baelee on the floor of the living room.

Neal looks up to him with his chestnut colored eyes, but doesn't speak. He isn't sure which man came back to the house, but he's happy to see him return and more calm.

Belle turns to him and she can instantly tell that it's Norman standing in the doorway. She's relieved that Robert was right and kept his word to look after him. She really didn't know Robert had that in him, she had no idea that he truly cared about Norman. 

Belle now has a new found respect for Robert Gold.

She smiles up at Norman and hopes that he will give her a kiss, a hug or any show of affection, but he doesn't. He steps right over her and her heart instantly breaks from his cold gesture.

Norman picks up Baelee from the floor and holds her close in his arms, seeing her always brings him so much joy. "Hello Bae, did you miss your d-d-daddy?"

As an answer to his question the baby girl raises her hand and touches her father's nose.

Norman blushes and holds her tighter, burying his face into her, taking in her freshly bathed scent. He adores the light smell of her baby soap. It makes him feel even more at ease with everything that has happened.

Neal stands from the floor and extends his hand. "Mr. Gold, I'm Neal Cassidy," he introduces himself.

"I'm N-n-norman, Norman Gold."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Gold."

"P-p-please, not Mr. Gold, just Norman. Mr. Gold is my p-p-papa's name and I'm not my papa."

"I'm sorry. I completely understand that, Norman."

He takes Neal's hand and shakes it with a crooked grin on his face.

This is a rather awkward situation.

Norman takes a closer look at Neal's face. He can see a lot of similarities to his father, Malcolm, but also sees the differences and this makes Norman feel even more at ease. "I'm s-s-sorry if I frightened you and th-th-that I'm not the person you were hoping to find."

"To tell the truth, I don't know what I was hoping and I had no idea who I would find. You don't have to apologize to for that, Norman. I was a little shaken up and confused, but I promise that you didn't scare me away."

Neal's words remind Norman of Belle's. She has said something like this to him before and he never thought he would hear anyone else say them. Norman turns to Belle as she watches from the floor and steps before her, offering his hand. He was still upset with her when he entered the house, but now he's beginning to let some of it go.

Belle takes his hand and she stands from the floor.

He pulls her into him and kisses her cheek, softly rubbing his nose across her silky skin. "I'm sorry, d-d-dearie."

"So am I, sweetie." She wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him tightly, breathing in the scent of sweat and forest on his suit. It doesn't matter to her what he smells like. This is exactly what she needed all day, his arms around her and melding into him.

"Norman, Belle," Neal softly interrupts. "I'm going to go. I know you two have a lot to talk about."

Norman pulls out of Belle's warm arms. "No, we have th-th-things to talks about too. I d-d-don't want you to go."

"I'm just returning to my room. We'll see each other tomorrow."

Norman passes Baelee over to Belle and steps closer to Neal. "Thank you for t-t-taking such good care of my wife."

"You don't have to thank me for that. We're family now." Neal smiles at his father and Norman returns with a smile of his own.

"C-c-can I hug you, Neal?"

"I would be leaving disappointed if you didn't."

Norman leans into Neal, wrapping his arms around him and closes his eyes. "My son," he whispers in Roberts thick brogue and pulls out of the hug.

"Goodnight, Norman."

"G-g-goodnight." Norman returns with his stutter.

Neal stops before Belle, kisses his baby sister on the cheek and gives Belle a caring smile, before making his way to the door.

Norman follows his (and Robert's) son to the door and watches as he returns to his motel room. Afterwards, he turns to Belle with a shy grin on his face and heads up stairs. "I'm going to take a shower, d-d-dearie." He doesn't look back at her when he speaks.

"Okay," she replies timidly, still feeling the tension in the house. She knows he's still upset.

##  *******

Norman exits the shower and finds a note from Belle waiting on the sink. She wants him to meet her in the kitchen. He dresses quickly and goes down to see what she needs.

Norman enters the kitchen and finds Belle sitting at the table with the tea kettle and two cups. One of the cups being the old chipped cup that he gave to her years ago.

"Please, sweetie, sit down." She fills the chipped cup with tea and scoots it to the empty chair next to her.

Norman takes his seat and tastes the tea. She used his favorite blend. "Thank you, d-d-dearie."

"You're welcome." She scoots her chair close to him. "Your lip didn't swell."

"No, it d-d-didn't." He touches his lip. "Papa told me what happened."

Belle had a feeling he would. "I'm sorry about that, Norman. You know I would never hurt you, I was hitting him."

"I know, d-d-dearie. He told me that too. He said you were trying to protect me. I'm glad you hit him. I've been wanting to hit him myself, but I can't."

"Good. I'd hit him again if he ever tried to hurt you. I was so upset and all I could think about was what you would think. He took so much from you sweetie, that's what I mad about. He has taken part of your life." She doesn't think this is the right time tell him about the other things eating at her, so she tries to keep them out of this conversation. She feels like this moment is about Norman and not her. "He used you to get what he wanted and made a child that grew up without a father."

"Yes, b-b-but Neal being without a father wasn't c-c-completely Papa's fault."

"I know that honey." She takes his hand. "I'm sorry that you had to hear all that from Papa. You should have heard it from me, but I was scared."

"I sh-sh-should have heard it from you. I needed to hear it from you, b-b-but you ran away from me." He lowers his head, gazing down at his cup. "Were you scared of me, Belle?"

"No, no, no. I'll never be afraid of you." She turns his head to face her. "Never," she boldly states. "I was upset with myself and couldn't bring myself to tell you. I thought I would be hurting you if I did, but I ended up hurting you anyway."

He moves his hand from hers and nervously taps his finger on the tea cup. "Can I ask you s-s-something?"

"Of course you can." She takes back his hand and stops his fidgeting.

"How d-d-did you find out about Neal?"

She was hoping this was something Robert told him already. She truly didn't want to be the one to lie to him. "Neal came to the motel to find his father. I'm not sure how he knew or what his mother told him, you'll have to ask him that." She quickly think of a half truth to tell. "I don't know everything, but I think Papa showed up while you were working down at the motel. He entered Neal's room and he must have asked Papa a lot of questions. I went down to check on you and I saw them talking. Papa was upset and I knew it wasn't you. I guess he wasn't to thrilled about finding out. We argued, then I punched him and you woke up twenty minutes later." Belle takes a moment to think, making sure she covered all the bases. "I didn't notice your suit until Neal helped me carry you to the house. I think Papa changed in the parlor," she immediately adds.

"Why c-c-couldn't, Papa tell me that?"

"I don't know, sweetie, but it doesn't matter."

"You're right, it doesn't. I'm g-g-glad I heard it from you "

She smiles at him, trying to hide the pain of her heart breaking from not telling him everything. "Can I ask you something now?" She needs to change the subject and get answers about something else.

Norman nods.

"What did your father do to you? You don't have to tell me everything now. I just want to know how he hurt you."

His leg shakes anxiously under the table and he starts his nervous tapping again. "I knew you were g-g-going to ask, but I still wasn't ready for it."

"Please, Norman. I can't go on without knowing, especially after today."

Norman takes a deep breath and tells his wife a little story. "He kept me isolated in th-th-the house. It was just him and me." Tears begin to flow down his cheeks and Belle wipes them. "He was a man th-th-that hated the world and took all of his anger out on me."

"Oh, sweetie. I'm so sorry that happened to you." She brings his hand to her lips and kisses him. She can't imagine how trapped he must have felt.

"He w-w-would hit me everyday, until one day he stopped."

"He just stopped?"

"I was six-sixteen and I woke up in my b-b-bed, he usually wakes me, but he didn't that morning. I looked around the house for him, but he was gone. I was the only person there and it was like a dream come true." Norman closes his eyes and breaths out a heavy laugh, reliving that feeling of absolute freedom. "Th-th-that's when Papa stepped up and took full care of me. Papa wasn't p-p-perfect, but he was a hell of a lot better than Malcolm."

"He was just gone?" Belle thinks there's something a little off about Malcolm disappearing. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know and I don't fucking care," Norman snaps and crashes his fist on the table, rattling the dishes. "All I care about is that he's dead. He's been him so long, that he has to be dead."

"Aright, Norman, I'm sorry."

The wrathful expression painted on Norman's features fades away and he looks more like himself. "I w-w-want to go upstairs now, Belle."

"Alright, honey, let's go to bed. We can talk more tomorrow. I still feel like we need to talk."

"I feel th-th-that way too, but I can't talk anymore."

"I understand." She stands from the table and rasps her hand through his hair, then kisses the crown of his head. "Come on sweetie." She helps him up from his seat and leads him out of the kitchen.

##  *******

After the talk in the kitchen, Belle steps out of the shower and checks on Baelee. 

The baby girl is still fast asleep and it seems like she will be for the rest of the night.

Belle stands by her crib and kisses her cheek, then heads to her bedroom.

She enters the bedroom and her eyes fall on Norman sitting on the edge of the bed, staring off into the closet. "Sweetie? What are you doing?" He doesn't reply and she paces to the bed. "Norman?" she barks.

He doesn't flinch like he usually does when Belle brings him out of his phases. He just slowly turns his head to her. "Yes, dearie?"

"Are you okay?"

He nods.

"You were deep in thought weren't you?" She sits next to him and wraps her arm around the small of his back, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Something like that," he speaks softly.  

"Oh Norman." She sighs and rubs her other hand over his thigh. "Do you want me to call Dr. Hopper tomorrow?"

"No. I don't want to talk to the doctor."

She really wishes that he would, but she can't force him do something he doesn't want to. "Okay, that's your choice." She stands in front of him and sits on his lap, straddling her legs around him. "We can try to clear your mind, just for a moment," she whispers and kisses his lips, cupping the nape of his neck. She grinds herself against him and her pussy starts to moisten to the friction in her panties.

He places his hand on her breast and squeezes her pillowy flesh.

She slips her tongue into his mouth and glides it across his uneven teeth, savoring his taste.

He leans back into the bed and Belle follows his movements. He fills his hands with her ass and firmly grips her cheeks. He loves the way they clinch to his touch.

Belle's pussy throbs as she dry humps her husband. She can feel him thickening between her thighs.

Norman quickly turns her over and her back crashes into the soft mattress. He kisses her zealously on her lips, then all the way down the scale of her neck to the cleavage of her breast and he suddenly stops, looking up to her at a loss. "I can't, Belle," he says with his brogue still thick with desire.

She rapidly breaths from all the heavy kissing. "What?"

"I c-c-can't have sex." He sits up in the bed.

"But you're always ready, sweetie." She sits up as well.

"I know, b-b-but tonight, I just can't."

"Alright, Norman." She hugs him and kisses his cheek. "It's okay if you can't. Why don't we just go to bed."

"Alright, d-d-dearie."

She pulls the blanket down and they both crawl underneath.

Norman turns off the switch to the lamp and rests his head on his pillow with his back turned to her.

Belle lays on her back, staring up at the ceiling and thinks about her exhausting day.

After laying silently for nearly fifteen minutes, Belle decides to take the break for herself that she promised she would take earlier. She looks over to Norman and he's sleeping peacefully. He has had such a hard day that she isn't surprised at how fast he fell. She slowly climbs out of bed, being careful not to wake him, and goes to the bathroom.

In the bathroom, Belle sets the seat down on the toilet, pulls her panties down from underneath her silk nightgown and takes a seat, then takes out her vibrator from the sink drawer. She lifts one leg on the edge of the tub and slips the sex toy between the lips of her dripping folds, then turns it on. Her body instantly stiffens to the pulsation of the toy.

Back in the bedroom, Norman crawls out of bed too. He knows Belle left to finish herself and this is what he was hoping she would do. He doesn't know why these old urges are taken over him, but he isn't going to do anything to stop them. Belle didn't close the door completely and left it cracked open just enough for Norman to peek through, getting a nice view of her on the toilet. He can see the sex toy buzzing over her clit and her legs quivers uncontrollably, as she quietly moans.

"Ah, ah."

Norman slips his hands in his pants. He briskly strokes his rigid manhood while he watches his wife without her knowledge. His body tenses and it doesn't take long before he quickly comes in his hand. "Uh," he grunts silently. He hasn't had the thrill of watching in a truly long time. He hurries back to the bed before Belle finishes herself, he doesn't want her to know he was ever there. 

Norman came in a flash and so hard in his hand, that he's back to sleep in no time.

Belle's pussy clenches around the toy in her opening and she pulls it out, coming on the vibrator. "Mmm, Mmm," she hums, biting her bottom lip as her body twitches with orgasm. She sits for a moment and catches her breath, then cleans up her mess.

Belle returns to the room and lays next to her husband, cuddling up behind him. "Thank you for bringing Norman home safely." She whispers in his ear, hoping that Robert will hears her gratitude somehow.

"You're welcome," Norman mumbles in Robert's voice, with his eyes still closed. 

Belle smiles, she really didn't expect for him to hear her, but she's happy he did. She tightens her hold around the body of the man she deeply loves and slowly drifts to sleep.


End file.
